Friday, March 22, 2013

Nutella is cure

Spring was already here and then winter hit us again. It was a shock you can only survive with food.
I've been playing with the idea of homemade Nutella for quite a long time. My attitude was sort of a 'why bother, the store bought one is perfect". But recently we started reading the labels more. Let me tell you, there is less and less products on our shopping list every day. We make our own bread, cheese spread...there is almost no packaged ham or salami that is not full of preservatives that are NOT GOOD.

So anyway...Nutella...In this make-it-at-home mood we decided to give it a try. There are numerous recipes online. The basis is obviously hazelnuts, but then there are varieties with chocolate, almonds, etc...we went with what we had at home and took it from there. I liked the Browne Eyed Baker recipe because it seems pretty simple and the ingredients were really basic (if you ignore the hazelnut oil and use your regular vegetable one).

Here is how we did it:

Ingredients:

2 cups sweetened hazelnuts (I buy the sweetened version sometimes, because they are already roasted and ground, and because I am lazy)
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I guess flavor is much nicer if you have hazelnut of walnut oil on you, but I wouldn't go buying it just for this purpose)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
handful of kids chocolate cubes (ours was Schogetten for Kids)

Process hazelnuts in the food processor until it sort of becomes moist. In the beginning it looks like it's never going to happen, but then id does at one point. This is not the most entertaining activity you could wish for, especially if your food processor is not self standing and can not be used continuously for more than a few seconds, but it can be done. I attach photos below as evidence.

After hazelnuts are processed you add everything else and process some more, until the mixture is compact and starts looking and smelling like Nutella. I tell you, the smell of processed hazelnuts is nuts:)

(Note: If your hazelnuts are not sweetened, you will need to add sugar!)

You can either store it in an airtight container, I hear it will last up to a month if refrigerated. OR you get daddy to make pancakes/crepes and just eat it all.

I think it is obvious which one we chose this time...

Have you ever made your own hazelnut spread? Please leave a comment, I am dying to know!